April 22, 2013 AT 7:00 am

Tutorial: Internet of Things Printer for Raspberry Pi @ The Adafruit Learning System

In the future, everything will be connected to the internet. And all restaurants will be Taco Bell! The “Internet of Things” is the idea of pervasive connections between physical objects and the online world. These connected devices don’t just idly sit around waiting for commands or files…they’re active agents that anticipate your needs and can push or pull data from the internet.

Our Internet of Things Printer is a small, internet-connected thermal printer that can have a daily weather forecast ready before you head out in the morning, a puzzle to work on while riding the subway, provide a list of “tweets” relating to your interests…or any other task you can program!

This second version of the printer is built around the Raspberry Pi, a tiny computer that packs a wallop: more processing power, more RAM and the potent Linux operating system. The new kit has an easier time handling graphics and looks super tidy with its wireless networking…